WEAKNESSES

• WEAKNESSES OF CORRELATIONS?

  • cannot establish cause and effect
  • does not explain meaning behind relationship
• WHAT DOES THE INABILITY TO ESTABLISH CAUSE AND EFFECT MEAN FOR CORRELATIONS?

  correlation cannot be taken to imply causation even if there is a strong association
• WHY CAN WE NOT ASSUME A CORRELATION MEANS CAUSATION?

  confounding variables
• WHY DO CORRELATIONS NOT EXPLAIN MEANING BEHIND RELATIONSHIPS?

  visual display is useful but it does not allow us to go beyond given data so we cannot infer one thing guarantees another